Fidias Panayiotou, a 24-year-old YouTuber from Cyprus, succeeded in 2024 in becoming a member of the European Parliament as an independent politician representing Cyprus, without having any prior political experience. Initially, it started as a bet, just to see if he could. Now, he is running for European Democracy Shield Vice Chair as well, with Elon Musk’s support.
How Fidias’s Youtube Career Started
A few years ago, Fidias created his YouTube channel, mostly doing pranks, following trends, and doing extreme challenges. Some of these included staying buried underground in a box for ten days, going a month without food, and sleeping outside Elon Musk’s offices until he gave him a hug. He was known for his resilience and passion; if he put something in his mind, he would not give up until it was done.
This exact mindset led him to succeed in becoming a European Parliament member as well.
However, not all his challenges were well received. For example, one time he tried to board a train in Japan without purchasing a ticket and hid in the toilet, pretending he was sick during an officer’s inspection. Another time, in an effort to prove he could spend a week in Dubai without a penny, he pressured strangers to give him money. Many examples like this brought him negative comments. But, as they say, there is no such thing as ‘bad fame’. These negative comments only boosted his videos, making him even more well-known.
Deciding to run for the European Elections
After having succeeded in all his prior challenges and gaining almost three million followers on YouTube, Fidias decided to do one final challenge: run for the European Elections. At first, he wasn’t sure if he should join and represent one of the political parties or run as an independent.
He tried to approach multiple political parties, but due to his known non-serious behavior, no one took him seriously, except for the Green Party.
Now Fidias had a choice to make. Should he join them or run on his own? All political advisors were explaining that it was impossible for an independent politician to make it in the elections. So Fidias, being the influencer he was, decided to make a poll on Instagram and ask the public.
This move was perceived as the ultimate democratic way for a politician to act. Thus, Fidias trusted the public and ran as an independent, gaining 19.4% in the elections, securing a placement in the European Parliament. Fidias gave the public a clean canvas, without political affiliation. He promised transparency from a ‘regular’ citizen entering the political scene. The public perceived him to be their eyes and ears in politics, and he promised to report back on everything he observed.
What happened during his time in the European Parliament
Fidias did not stop asking the public before making any political moves or decisions, gaining their trust even more. At the same time, he became the ultimate headache for the European Parliament, which started to walk on ‘hot coals,’ since every move was registered by him and reported in his YouTube videos.
Often, Fidias made videos explaining the European process, their working methods, and even exposing mistakes. But everyone trips at some point.
A Bumb in the Road
Recently, one of his ‘exposé’ videos turned against him when the Vice President of the European Parliament made a video of his own, showing that the mistakes in the election process he exposed were fabricated. Using editing tools, he had combined two different occasions to look like one to create a scandal.
This video, along with his suspicious relationship with Elon Musk, started to turn the public’s admiration to disappointment. It turns out that when one is involved in the political scene, it is more difficult than not to remain neutral.
Fidias had always idolized Elon Musk. Now, being part of the European Parliament, he was given the opportunity to be in his inner circle, and thus, a political friendship came to be. Now, every time Elon Musk seems to be attacked by the European Parliament, Fidias makes sure to come to his rescue.
Recent Nazi allegations towards Elon Musk, did of course not leave his friend Fidias indifferent, who once again made a youtube video, defending Elon Musk’s innocence.
Elon Musk backing Fidias Panayiotou
Of course, the infatuation is not one-sided. Since Fidias was elected, Elon Musk made sure that his preference for him was also known, backing him up at every turn.
Fidias running for European Democracy Shield Vice Chair
But taking a taste of the sweet life is never enough. Now Fidias has decided he would also run for Vice Chair. He does not want to only be a member. According to him, to protect democracy, he needs more influence in the European Parliament.
And of course, his friend Elon Musk, rushed to express his support.
This decision did not only cause havoc on social media but started to create tension in other countries’ politics as well. Fredis Beleris, the Greek representative in the European Parliament, voted for him to take on this position.
Soon, his political party in Greece came after him, declaring no association with this decision whatsoever and making him come out and state that his vote was his personal decision and not a political stance.
For now, it remains to be seen if he will succeed in winning this challenge as well. From what we have seen, nothing is impossible for Fidias Panayiotou. The main question though, is not only if he will succeed but if he is the first to do so.
With people trusting political figures and traditional media less and less, is this the first step towards a new era? An era where social media and influencers take on, not only the news, but the political scene as well?
